Esau is the
eldest and a hunter. Not a particularly good hunter, but he roams out and kills
the beasties for meat. He also dresses something like a wild man in animal
skins and furs. Isaac likes Esau best. Probably a bit of fatherly envy, there
as he would have liked to have been the same way, out hunting instead of tied
to the fields and flocks.
Jacob is
the homebody, and Rebekah’s favorite. It always figures that Mom and Dad have
their respective favorites. Jacob is the guy who stays at home tending the
flocks and fields and even doing the more domestic work. The story makes it
clear that he’s something of a momma’s boy.
Now, a
little bit of math is in order. See, the way that inheritance worked back in
ancient Hebrew culture was a bit different than we might imagine. It’s not
actually difficult, it just requires a couple of extra steps. With two sons, it
seems that it would be an even split between them, but that’s not the case.
There is this thing called the birthright, and this is part of the reason why
Sarah sent Ishmael and Hagar away. So, take the total number of sons (sorry,
ladies that’s just the way it was) and add 1. So, for Isaac’s sons, it’s Esau,
Jacob, +1 for a total of 3. Now, take Isaac’s total assets and divide by that
total, so everything is divided into 1/3 shares. Esau gets 1/3, Jacob gets 1/3,
and then there is what is called the birthright share, which is given to the
eldest. So, in reality, Esau will get 2/3 and Jacob gets 1/3.
For Ishmael
and Isaac it was the same thing. Sarah didn’t want Isaac to get a measly 1/3,
so she cut out Ishmael and Hagar completely.
Why do we
care? Well, it turns out that this birthright is the crux of the story between
Esau and Jacob.